Friday, 23 March 2012

Making up for lost time - MILLIONS OF MAKES!

I've been crazy busy for ages, working weekends and evenings and all sorts, so my poor old blog has been neglected. On the plus side, you get a massive collection of new makes to pore over at once. Make yourself a cup of tea or pour yourself a glass of wine and enjoy!

First up, we have the NEW AND IMPROVED! Ballet tutu cake pop! You may remember the old style, which I made specifically for a tutu-and-tees party, hence the top being a bit more tee than the lovely glittery bodice below. I much prefer the new design, and the tri-colour tulle tutu just makes it that much more special!

Ballet Tutu Cake pops

Such a simple but effective pop - these light bulb pops are perfect for rewarding bright ideas!

Lightbulb cake pops

If you're in the UK, there's pretty much no chance you can escape the subject of the next pop. For a few weeks a year in the run up to Christmas, weekends are dominated by the X-Factor!

X-Factor logo cake pops

I wanted to do something a little different for Easter this year. Bakerella's chicks are adorable but they've been done to death, and I didn't love my old bunny. I tried to make this year's creation a cross between Hello Kitty and Miffy, keeping things nice and simple.

Rabbit/Bunny and chick cake pops

I love the next pop - it's a little guinea pig made for a client who was having her daughter's party at a petting zoo. The chicks, rabbits, and spiders were also for her. I do like the spiders, but I have to admit that they look a bit crab-like. Maybe next time I'll do them in black and red!

Guinea Pig cake pops

Spider cake pops

Now, I'm not a Gleek, but was very fortunate in that the client was and made some suitable suggestions for Glee themed cake pops - namely the Loser hand and the slushie!

Glee cake pops

Now, the teacup and the London themed cake pops were for a client surprising a friend with a trip to Afternoon Tea at the Ritz in London for a 30th birthday celebration:

London cake pops

Tea Cup cake pops

Border Collie cake pops

Three Little Pig cake pops

These are pretty much the same design as they were before, with nonpareil instead of circular sprinkle spots on their backs. I still love them just as much though!

Dinosaur cake pops

Moshi Monsters are absolutely huge at the moment! Every time I post a new pic, I get loads more orders for even more of the damn things - it never ends!

Katsuma Moshi Monster cake pops

Baby shower cake pops - personalised baby bottles!

Baby bottle cake pops

My first ever request for cake pops for a wake. These were requested for someone's grandfather, who apparently loved fruit. I love their simplicity, yet am so pleased with the results of the pear. I wanted them to be perfect to honour the deceased, and know that the client was very happy with them, which in turn makes me happy.

Apple and Pear cake pops

Numerical cake pops were one of the very first pops I ever made. This is a more updated and staged image of my baby blue number one cake pops.

Number 1 cake pops

I was given a challenge by a client to come up with something new and interesting for a christening. I did what I always do in such instances, and asked about the theme. Turns out she had commissioned some bunting for the occasion, and my mind went into overdrive with the thought of bunting cake pops. OOOoooh the possibilities! I love me some Cath Kidston, and would love to do a girly version of these! I tried to replicate as many of the patterns as she had in her own bunting as possible.

I've seen elephant cake pops before, but the trunk was always a little lacking. I wanted to make something a bit more in proportion. I know other have used gummy worms, but the issue with those is that they're flexible and the coating might crack. I prefer to use candy clay so that the appendages are fixed once the candy melt coating is dry.

Elephant cake pops

I thought of these last year, but really didn't have the right ribbon in stock to pretty them up appropriately. I made a trip to the fabric shop especially to make these - so simple, but I love them to pieces. So girly and glittery!

Fairy wand cake pops

I made these Gorilla cake pops back in January. I tried to make their expressions different and as I make making these, they really were talking to me. Clearly I need to get out more!

Gorilla cake pops

You know what one of my most popular characters is? The one that gets the most likes and shares? Well, this is definitely it - the GRUFFALO! I made the Gruffalo's child and the Mouse on this occasion, and it was an instant hit. I love me some Gruffalo, and you should have seen what the amazing Toadstool Parties did with it all. In fact, see for yourself here!

Gruffalo cake pops

Valentines was exceptionally busy again this year, and I try to mix things up each time. This year instead of the 'I LOVE YOU' pops I made last year, I opted for various designs of hearts in lots of flavours. I even went as far as to make my own gold sprinkle dust this year - you can see it on the red (top left) and white (bottom right) pops.

Heart cake pops for Valentines

I had an email from a client back in January asking about cake pops to suit a party with a Katy Perry theme. She was going for the whole candy thing. I suggested lollipops (not pictured) as well as cupcakes and ice-cream cake pops. I hear the night was a great success, though stressful for the hostess!

Ice cream cake pops and cupcake cake pops

So, I know I said that the Gruffalo was my most popular cake pop of all time. Well, that was true until I posted THIS image of Lady Googoo - this thing went mental! I was stunned! I'd never really heard of it until someone asked for it (my kids are still a bit too young for this Moshi Monster / Moshling craze! I don't usually take images at night because the light is so bad, but I was just desperate to share this one. Turns out it worked out quite well - the flash makes it look like she's been papped! So apt!

Lady Googoo cake pop

I took another image by daylight, along with the White Fang cake pop I made for the same order:

Lady Googoo and White Fang Moshi Moshling cake pops

Now, I'm not going to lie to you but the next order really warmed my cockles. When I was filmed by Facebook earlier in the year, I had a lovely camera man called Marc from Kingfilm do the honours. He contacted me about ordering some Giant Microbe cake pops for his biologist girlfriend for their 9th anniversary. Pretty much the same week I had another request FROM THE GIRLFRIEND! Unbeknownest to them, they ordered cake pops for each other - how cute is that? Not wanting to give the game away, I subtly tried to steer them into ordering different flavours so they didn't get sick of them! She had ordered some photo pops and some pops of their likeness, so luckily not all the same thing! She was over-the-moon with her cake pops, which made me overwhelmingly happy. I'm a sucker for a cute story!

GIANT MICROBES cake pops

Geobacter and Deinococcus cake pops of my own design

In the UK we have a famous brand of corn-based (I think) chips called Monster Munch.You know the cheese puff, fluffy variety? Well, apparently I had a client who's boyfriend REALLY like the beef ones, that were represented by this little guy:

Monster Munch cake pops

Another request I kept getting was for Lego Ninjago cake pops. At first I was a little unsure how I'd put them into practise - they look like ninjas, and I wanted them to be textured - but I managed to nail it (I think so, anyhoo!) on my first go. Wooohoooooo!

Kai Lego Ninjago cake pops

Penguins have been done before, many times, in the cake popping world, so it's always a challenge to put your own spin on things. I made the chap on the right able to hold a little toothpick placard, which the client had requested. I think they're supercute!

Penguin cake pops

These were just a little pirate request I received via the page - I like their simplicity!

Personalised pirate skull and crossbone cake pops

The next cake pops came about due to a slight misunderstanding between a client and I during an email exchange. She mentioned red, black and white signs, and I suggested round pops with numbers on. She thought I meant roadsigns, and then the whole roadsign cake pop thing came about - when she mentioned the elderly sign, I was like YES! AWESOME IDEA! They're cheeky, fun and versatile - LOVE THEM!

Road sign cake pops

A friend of mine asked if I could make some Transformer cake pops to go on top of her son's birthday cake. At first I was a bit stumped, as the actual Transformers would be a nightmare to recreate, but then it hit me - THE LOGOS! Works brilliantly, I think!

Transformer Cake Pops

Just a little request for unicorns. You can't quite tell but they have glittery pink manes. If we're being honest, I think I could probably improve them - watch this space!

Unicorn cake pops

I'll be honest. I'm a perfectionist. I'd made Upsy Daisy (In The Night Garden) cake pops before but I was never really happy with them. When I had another order for them, I knew I finally had the chance to redo them and make them better than before. Am pretty pleased with these - I do feel that the others looked a bit amateur compared to the way I pop now!

Upsy Daisy (In The Night Garden) cake pops

AND FINALLY (Thanks ever so much for making it this far - you totally rule!) I had my first ever wedding cake order a couple of months ago. I'm not one to chase the wedding market. I'd done a few orders of simple hearts or balls for wedding favours, but didn't have a wedding cake order until earlier this year. The client specifically requested three tiers with nonpareil all over, so it was a bit of a challenge to make them my own. What I decided to do was to add two hearts on the top instead of one. A simple change that I think was actually quite romantic and poignant - after all, two hearts enter into a marriage rather than just the one. The client was so happy with them, as was I!

Wedding cake pops

I can't thank you enough for staying with me until the bitter end of this blog post. I know it was ridiculously long, and I will try to be more on-the-ball in future.

Remember to drop by The UK Cake Pop Forum if you ever need hints and tips on the world of cake poppery - I'm always happy to help if I can!

I make cake pops too but yours are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G with a capital A!Questions, do you wrap them individually? If you do, how do you prevent the parts from breaking?Do you use edible markers to draw on the pops? If not, what do you use and long do they take to dry?Thanks so much!

Thank you! I do wrap them individually, and I try to put as much detail under the candy melt coating as possible to make them stronger. I paint with leaf glaze/confectioners varnish, mixed with edible dusts and lustres. They dry within a few minutes. The markers are pretty useless.

There's a link at the bottom of the post for the UK Cake Pop Forum - come over and say hi!

I love what you have done with cake pops. For the last two years I have been doing baked goods on the side. Due to the amount of work I have been doing my husband suggested I take a year off of work and see if I can make a business of it. Any way I was also interested in what you use to paint with. What is Confectioners Varnish. I am with you when you state that the markers are useless.

Love you work! I was wondering too what do you use to write with. Wilton edible markers are useless. I'd heard so much about Americolor so I bought those. Tried them once but wasn't impressed. Thought maybe I was doing something wrong. Your writing, drawing looks great! I'll hae to give the glaze/ confectioners a try.

These are amazing, I am interested in trying to do some myself for my christening, just going to stick with a pretty ball as a first-timer though. I can't wait, im going to put them in these Favour Pails http://www.babycelebrations.co.uk/christening-party-christening-favours-c-235_285.html and fill up the space with little chocolate and sweet treats!

HI Bianca! I love all your cake pops. YOu are terribly talented. I was looking at your pebguins and teh image of the steps, but how do you do the black body? Id that all edible pen or paint?Thanks,Jen-